


O' Captain, my captain

by Demon_Cookie101



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Eridan is confused and horribly upset, Post-Game, they're so out of character i'm sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-07
Updated: 2016-04-07
Packaged: 2018-05-31 20:12:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6485911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demon_Cookie101/pseuds/Demon_Cookie101
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post game sees you as Empress.<br/>Post game sees him as almost broken.</p>
            </blockquote>





	O' Captain, my captain

**Author's Note:**

> Update fic.  
> They're so out of character and I've come to realise that my titles for my fics make practically no sense, wow.  
> Thanks for reading.

The game made you Empress.

It spat you out, it spat all of you out as soon as you won. You woke up at your desk in your room, staring at a black screen on your husktop. You are Empress now. A guard from the official palace had come, knocking at your door and bowing. You are Empress, and according to the trolls of Alternia, your coronation had already happened.

She was dead. And you are Empress.

It took a bit of getting used to. And by a bit you mean it’s been an hour since you finally got the fact that the game was done and you are Empress into your dumb pan. You had head straight to the palace, gave it a once over, and ordered anything that was significantly Hers, obnoxiously Hers, horribly Hers, to be torn down and destroyed. Your second order was for every law and rule she’d made that had been officially written down to be brought to you in the below sea level throne room. It hasn't even been a full day night cycle since you were spat out.

Being Empress was the first surprise of being spat out alive back onto Alternia.

The second was when a grumpy-looking violet-blooded guard with sharply curved horns informed you that the Orphaner wished for an audience.

_Eridan._

You… don’t really know what to think about him. You're furious over what he did to you, to Sollux, to Kanaya. You hate how he whined and complained throughout the entire game.

But when you went to find him, you and Aradia and Sollux. When you saw him, lying in two halves still with the terrified and anguished broken expression on his face from his death, before his form melted to his dead self like he should have already been…

It hurt.

You promised him, when you first became his moirail, when he swore to help you provide food for your lusus, you promised him that you will always at least listen to him, even if you end up not being his moirail anymore.

And he promised he would listen as well.

But when it came down to it… you didn’t really listen. He was a brat, he was tiring, he made your head hurt and your gut twist with annoyance and anger. So you stopped listening, and he got more and more desperate.

The guard asks again whether he should turn the Orphaner away or let him in, shaking you from your thoughts. You put the law pad you’re currently scouring to the side and tell them to let him in.

He’s not wearing his scarf, or his cape. He looks frazzled, hunted… afraid. He looks at you, and you can see his emotions warring in his eyes. He’s wearing his stupid pusher on his stupid sleeve like he always stupidly has. You raise a hand, dismissing the guards from the room. You can take him. He won’t defend himself if you attack him, you know this.

His lip trembles and when he speaks his voice is hoarse, like he woke up from the game screaming. “Tell me it was a dream. Just… please tell me it was a dream.” The water is swirling around you, around him, the currents bringing soft notes of the cuttles that swim past the stained windows.

You open your mouth, pause, shut it again and stand. As you walk towards him he falls to his knees, clutching his hair in his hands and shuts his eyes. You crouch in front of him, reaching out to touch his shoulder. He flinches, twitching, fins flattening against his head. His swallow is almost audible in the quiet of the room as he whispers, “It wasn’t a dream.”

“No, Eridan.”  
“I killed you.”  
“You did.”  
“I-I killed Kanaya. I listened to the angels and I… I _did_ those _things_. It wasn’t a dream.”

You close your eyes, gripping a handful of his shirt and rest your forehead against your fist.

His rings have got to be catching in his hair right now. You lift your head and reach up to gently get him to let go of his hair and to help him free his hair from the stones and little shapes of his rings. The violet tinge around his eyes are the only implication that he’s shedding a few tears, the water swirling around you both dispelling it before you can see them. “… Are you gonna kill me?”

The question catches you by surprise, and you stare at him. He doesn’t look worried. He… he looks like he’s accepted his fate, whatever it may be.

You open your mouth to reply, but two chimes interrupted you. One from your husktop, sitting atop a pile of data pads and blinking with a trollian message. Another comes from Eridan, who doesn’t bother reaching for whatever it is that makes the noise. You stand, going to check it and feeling so utterly relieved when it’s mustard text.

TA: check iin. Everyone. Check iin. Diid everyone make it back

As you watch, the replies come in one by one.

Teal

Brown

Maroon

Blue

Cerulean

Jade

Olive

Purple

Grey

Eridan hasn’t moved from his spot kneeling in your throne room. You type ‘)(ere’ and turn to look at him, expecting him to do the same.

He just looks up at you, and you know what he’s going to do. To try to do. What he thinks he deserves.   
“Don’t. Don’t you dare.”  
“You’re the only one who’s seen me. You can forget you saw me, delete the records for my hive. No one else knows where it is. Sol might, but I doubt he’ll go diggin’ through memories to find it.”  
“Eridan no. Reply to it. Now.”  
He shakes his head, looking up at you. “I fucked up so bad F-…” He stops himself, and you know he’s been beating himself up over it, strangling his pride and drowning in his own horror over his actions. You know that, just like you know that there’s a small part of him that’s gloating over having killed you. Over having done something worth noting. Over having destroyed the matriorb. You know he’s disgusted by that part of him, but at the same time helplessly wanting more of the satisfied feeling.

He’s lonely, hurt and not in control of himself. You don’t think he ever was.

“Eridan. This is an order.” You hate the words, you hate the taste of it in your mouth as you order him, but you know he won’t do it otherwise. “Eridan answer the chat. Now.” Your lip is trembling, even as he shakes his head slowly.   
“I can’t go back to them. I can’t go back and have them look at me far worse than they ever have.”  
“You can fix it-”  
“And what if I can’t?! Then what? You know what will happen. You know I’ll spiral back into bein’ selfish and greedy and wantin’ and needin’ attention and they’ll hate me even more.”

Your husktop chimes and when you glance at it, it’s Sollux again. “He’s asking for you.”  
“He’ll forget about me.”  
“He was your mindmate, it’s not easy to forget!” You know that better than anyone. You and Nepeta. Him and Sollux. Tavros and Vriska… well, you don’t think they understand it as much but you do. He does. He knows it. “Answer the chat. That’s an order, Eridan.” Your lips are definitely trembling now, and your hands are clenched into fists as you fight to keep your composure.

“I’ll help you. Me and Sollux and Kar-”  
“He hates me too. Future him went off at me.” He interrupts, pressing a hand to his face.   
“Me and Sollux then. We can do it. You don’t need many friends, Eridan. You only ever had me in the past, and moirailligence is a two-way street, but I never tried as hard as I should. You barely tried much, but when you did you were better than I thought I deserved.”

“I killed you-”  
“I forgive you.”

Your words make him stare at you, eyes wide behind his glasses. You’re surprised by your words too, but you mean them. You don’t forgive him wholly, but you know that on some level you do. You can make him be a better person until he finds a proper moirail.

(Something in you whispers about mindmates and shoving him at Sollux and you get the strangest feeling to go make a shipping wall.

…Dammit Nepeta.)

“Please.” You say quietly. “Please, guppy. We got this far. I hate you for what you did but I can forgive you. Sollux is asking for you. We can figure it out. You live in the middle of nowhere anyway so it’s not like they’ll see much of you, regardless whether they want to or not. I know you, remember?”

He looks up at you, and slowly pushes himself to his feet. His shoulders are bowed, humbled, and he looks down. “Don’t forgive me straight away. It’s not fair on you.”  
“You can’t tell me what to do. I’m Empress now.”   
“Yeah. I know. Spent nearly an hour lookin’ for you at your old place.” You roll your eyes at him, but something in you eases, lifts, releases. That’s the Eridan you know better. It’s not fully him, but it’s the him only you saw.

“Answer the chat.” You say again, and he sighs, his palmhusk appearing in his hand, his sign obnoxious and violet on the outer case.

You can tell he’s still contemplating, and when he looks up at you, you nod.

You haven’t fully forgiven him, you’re not sure you ever will, not for everything he’s done. But you don’t want to forget him, or have him seclude himself completely from everyone. He was your friend before he was your moirail, and you don’t think you’d mind at trying to be his friend again. Not straight away, you need to get used to the whole Empress thing first.

He looks up at you, and then your husktop dings with a message.

CA: im here


End file.
